The term "toxin weapon" has been used to describe poisons, classically of natural origin but increasingly accessible by modern synthetic methods, which are suitable for delivery on a battlefield in a form that causes death or severe incapacitation at relatively low concentrations. Several of the most important toxin weapons are proteins, and these molecules are the focus of this chapter. Recent technological changes have increased the importance of protein toxins ...
Ricin is a potent toxin presenting a threat as a biological weapon. The holotoxin consists of two disulfide-linked polypeptides: an enzymatically active A chain (RTA) and a galactose/N-acetylgalactosamine-binding B chain. Efforts to develop an inactivated version of the A chain as a vaccine have been hampered by limitations of stability and solubility. Previously, recombinant truncated versions of the 267-amino-acid A chain consisting of residues 1-33/44- 198 or 1-198 were designed ...
The hairless guinea pig (HGP) is used by our laboratory to model the human cutaneous response to sulfur mustard (HD) exposure. We have determined the HD content in the skin of HOP after 7-minute exposures to vapors saturated with a mixture of HD and 14C-HD. Concentration/time (C1) values in the range of 2 mg/ sq cm/min were determined by counting skin 14C disintegrations per minute (dpm) in animals euthanized immediately ...
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